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July 2013

July 06, 2013

+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Please turn to the reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians [5:1, 13-25].

"For freedom Christ has set us free!"

How appropriate to hear St. Paul's triumphant words on this Sunday when we anticipate the Fourth of July on Thursday!

In fact, to see just how appropriate, please turn in your Book of Common Prayer to page 9. The very first sentence in the Preface to the first American Book of Common Prayer quotes Galatians 5:1 in the King James Version, the authorized version at the time:

"It is a most invaluable part of that blessed 'liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free' . . . ."

And note at the end of the Preface, on page 11, that the first American Book of Common Prayer was written in Philadelphia, where the United States' Constitution was written, and published in 1789, the same year that our Constitution was ratified and published. And many of the same people who worked on the Constitution also produced the Book of Common Prayer.

Paul continues: "Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Up until this point Paul has been assuring the Galatians that Jesus has freed both Gentiles and Jews from the Law of Moses, which Paul calls "a yoke of slavery."

But now Paul turns his attention to another kind of freedom, not from something— like freedom from the Law, but freedom for something.

"For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, butthrough love become slaves to one another."

I'm not sure why the translators used "self-indulgence" here rather than "the flesh," which would be the literal translation, because just three verses later they use "the flesh" when Paul discusses the cosmic battle between "the flesh" and "the Spirit."

So what does Paul mean when he talks about "the flesh?"

First, "the flesh" refers to our physical existence. Among other things, our flesh is weak and mortal— we all get sick and eventually we all die.

Second, "the flesh" is what we all have in common with everybody else.

Listen to the prophet Isaiah in a passage we read every Lent: "Is not this the fast that I choose: . . . to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" (58:6-7 RSV).

This passage from Isaiah also tells us that we cannot be in relationship with God apart from our relationships with each other— which is why the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" really is the same as the commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Third, "the flesh" points to something else we all have in common, as Paul tells us in his Letter to the Church in Rome— "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (3:23).

But Paul also has good news for us in the 8th chapter of Romans:

". . . Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Note the theme of freedom again.) "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh . . . he condemned sin in the flesh" (2-3).

So now, with this deeper meaning of "the flesh," let's return to our reading:

"For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. . . ."

Now we might expect Paul to finish this verse along these lines:

". . . do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but resist the temptation to give in to the flesh."

Instead, Paul writes, "do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love become slaves to one another."

Four weeks ago Ashley Babcock preached on this same verse, using the New International Version:

"You . . . were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love."

Then Ashley drew this conclusion, "As a free human being, it was my duty to serve."

She went on to talk about her "internal battle . . . between two selves: one who was self-serving, and one who was a servant."

I think Ashley discovered a better translation for "the flesh" than either "self-indulgence" or "sinful nature" when she chose the word "self-serving."

So thanks to Ashley, I think this is the best translation for this verse:

". . . do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-serving, but through love become other-serving."

This is a keen insight by Paul, and one that every parent knows— the most effective way to get children to stop doing something is not to tell them to stop doing it, but to distract them into doing something better!

And so it is with us— Paul knows that the most effective way to stop being self-serving is to become other-serving through love.

Which brings Paul to this logical conclusion: "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

This leads Paul into a discussion about the contrast between living by the Spirit and living by the flesh, between being self-serving and other-serving.

Notice that the "works of the flesh" are all works of self-serving that we do— and that most of the works of the flesh that Paul mentions are things that destroy Christian community: "enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy."

By contrast, notice that "the fruit of the Spirit" is not anything we do, but what the Spirit produces when we live by the Spirit and are guided by the Spirit.

Watchman Nee, perhaps the most influential Chinese Christian of the twentieth century, wrote this about the fruit of the Spirit in his book The Normal Christian Life (1957):

"God will not give me [the fruit of the Spirit] as separate gifts of his grace. [God] is not a retailer dispensing grace to us in packets, measuring out some patience to the impatient, some love to the unloving . . . in quantities that we take and work on as a kind of capital. . . .

"That is why Paul speaks of 'the fruit of the Spirit' . . . and not of "fruits" as separate items. God has given us his Holy Spirit, and when love is needed the fruit of the Spirit is love; and when joy is needed, the fruit of the Spirit is joy."

July 04, 2013

In my past professional life I worked as a therapist in a psychiatric program with patients that were identified as, "chronic mentally ill." These were people that for the most part were not able to live and work independently . . . not for any consistent period of time anyway. The leg of the support system that I worked in was a therapeutic day treatment program, an individual's first step on the way back toward reintegration into the life of the community after a psychiatric hospitalization. It was a transitional stop along the way to help them prepare for life back out in the world, away from the safe confines of the hospital. Part of my role included liaison work with these various psychiatric hospitals. I would meet with hospital staff and patients to see who was ready for discharge and whether or not the day treatment program would be a good fit for them.

For people who have never experienced a psychiatric hospitalization, it would seem that being locked up in a psychiatric unit would not be a desirable place to be . . . and there were certainly patients who felt this to be true and couldn't wait to be released. But for many others, the hospital is one place where they felt safe and secure. Not much was expected of them, other than (for the most part) to cooperate with their treatment plan. Meals are provided, medication is administered regularly (they don't have to worry about remembering), there is always someone there to talk with when needed - and the responsibilities / stressors associated with daily living – working, paying bills, going to the grocery store, cooking, taking care of others, etc., . . . aren't there. A stay in the hospital functions as a safe haven…. a temporary place away from all of life's demands.

For these patients, some who'd been in the hospital for months, being deemed able/ expected to return to society was a scary and anxiety provoking prospect.

So picture this man that Luke describes – possessed with so many demons he identifies himself as Legion – a word describing a large Roman army comprised of many units – thousands of soldiers. Yes, he lived out in the tombs, naked, prone to violence, etc., . . . certainly not a desirable situation, but he and everyone else in the community knew where they stood.

Now that he's been healed, restored to sanity, and once again in control of his life, what's next for him? What role will he now fill in the life of the community? Maybe he'd been married, had children and would return to them . . . even get his old job back. Who knows?

And what about the community? What will the impact of all this be for them? How will their roles change?

Again, we don't know. Like many of the stories contained in the Gospels, we rarely learn what happens after the reported event or what the outcome ends up being for the people involved. Today's passage is no exception. We don't know because Luke doesn't offer us many details of what happened after the demons were cast out. For the purposes of this passage, what's important for Luke's is to demonstrate to others the incredible power of Jesus.

Jesus cast out not only one demon but a Legion of them. This on the heels of calming the wind and waves of the storm while passing over on the Sea of Galilee with the disciples, and before that another healing and raising from the dead occurred. All miracles that demonstrate there is nothing that Jesus is not able to command power over. Nature, human kind, demons – nothing!

Which is absolutely, wonderfully incredible, but I still want to know about the man. What happened?

He has been miraculously healed – after Jesus leaves, is his life now also going to be miraculously better? Is he going to be welcomed back by family and friends with open arms regardless of his history – no questions asked? Yes, this man has been healed and I'm sure there were many who were rejoicing, but in the process of doing so, Jesus destroyed a whole herd of swine – a source of income for the owner and food for this gentile community. Responding in fear - and probably a bit angry about the loss of the swine, the community asked Jesus to leave. It was no wonder that the healed man begged Jesus to take him along when he left. I will guess that he had some fears of his own about staying. Fears about how the community would treat him after all that's happened. And who knows! Maybe he had some anger of his own. Anger at the community. After all, look how he'd been treated all those years. Now that he's been healed, how was he going to fit in and would he even want to?

We all have our roles and our places in the life of a community and when our role suddenly changes, it upsets the balance of things. . . Whether it's a community or family system. As with the patients I worked with, when one becomes healed, medicated/stabilized or detoxed and on the road to recovery, things change. It is a tenuous and stressful time for the healed person as he/she learns to re-navigate life and relationships. It's an equally stressful time for the families and communities they'll be returning to as they're not always sure what to expect and/or what they can count on in terms of new behaviors or at the least, no repeats of the old behaviors.

When possessed with demons, both the man and the community knew their roles. They knew what to expect and how to function with one another. How would the community respond now that this man was healed? Keep in mind that this newly healed man is also now a walking reminder of what happened when Jesus came to town. A good thing on the one hand – a miracle was performed. And a reminder of an economic loss on the other – a herd of swine destroyed.

Like the patient returning to the family or community, we want to welcome that person back into our lives, but we're afraid that the old demons will resurface. In the case of the healed man, I suppose that I too might have wanted to leave town and travel around with Jesus. In a sense, it would have been the easier and safer choice. Yet the man was told to stay put. . .

"Go home to your friends," Jesus told him, "go home and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you."

Jesus' work in the land of the Gerasenes might be done, but the work of the healed man is just beginning. Like the Great Commission that we find at the end of Matthew's gospel in which the disciples are told to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Jesus is doing the same with this newly healed man . . .commissioning him. His plans were that this man stay put and evangelize right there within his own community – a gentile community. Which is another important point for Luke – Jesus' commissioning of a gentile demonstrates that God's plan of salvation is not only for the people of Israel, but extends to all of God's creation.

Being delivered from evil, purged of your demons, and experiencing God's healing miracles doesn't mean God's work is done with you. God's work is never done, it only continues … it continues with every one of us.

When you've been changed, healed in ways that you never imagined possible, consider that Jesus is once again commissioning you to go out into the world, declaring how much God has done for you and to bring his healing touch to others. Amen.